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European Colonies In IndiaEuropean colonies in India were set up by several European nations beginning at the end of the 15th century. In 1498, the Portuguese set foot in Goa. Rivalry between reigning European powers saw the entry of the Dutch, British and French among others. The fractured debilitated kingdoms of India were gradually usurped by the Europeans and indirectly controlled by puppet rulers. By the 19th century, the British had assumed direct and indirect control over most of India. Portuguese The Portuguese were the first to arrive in India in 1498. The closing of traditional trade routes in western Asia by the Ottomans and rivalry with the Italian states, set Portugal in search of an alternate sea route to India. The first successful voyage to India was by Vasco da Gama in 1498, when he arrived in Calicut, Kerala. He proceeded to Goa. The Portuguese captured the entire coastal territory along India's western and eastern coasts as well as the island of Sri Lanka in the early 16th century. Portugal had established trading outposts in Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli along India's west coast. However Goa was their prized possession and their capital of the eastern hemisphere. British Main article: British India In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I accorded a charter, forming the East India Company to trade with India and eastern Asia. The British landed in India in Surat in 1624. Permission was granted by the ruling sovereign, Jehangir, to open up outposts in Calcutta and Madras. The British soon took advantage of their position by actively supporting the kingdoms militarily and gradually entering their politics. The Anglo-French wars of the 1700s, saw the British and the French fighting proxy wars on the behalf of the rulers. During the last of these wars, Robert Clive decisively defeated the French and greatly extended British rule. By early 19th century, the French were almost defeated and the British East India Company indirectly ruled most of India through puppet kings. In 1857, an insurrection in the army sepoys ensued in the popular Revolt of 1857 (Sepoy Mutiny). This mobilised resistance, though short-lasting, was caused due to the widespread resentment due to British discriminatory policies. As a result of this, India formally became a Crown colony. At the height of British power in the closing part of the 19th century, the British Empire stretched from Burma (now Myanmar) to Afghanistan, covering almost the entire undivided India consisting of modern day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Areas also under occupation were Bhutan (for a short period) and Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka). The British rule in India ended on August 15, 1947. French Main article: French India Following the British, the French also established trading bases in India. At the height of French power, the French occupied most of southern India and the area lying in today's northern Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The French, however, suffered major military setbacks against the British, losing almost all their possessions. Finally they were left with Pondicherry, Karaikal, Yanam, Mah and Chandranagar which were integrated with India after independence. Dutch The Dutch established trading outposts in southern India and Sri Lanka. The Dutch established trading stations in Travancore and coastal Tamil Nadu as well as at Rajshahi in present Bangladesh. The Dutch lost Ceylon at the Congress of Vienna in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, where the Dutch having fallen subject to France, saw their colonies raided by Britain. The Dutch, however, were never too involved in India, as they had the Dutch East Indies, (now Indonesia) as their prized possession. Danes The Danes were the last of the colonial powers to set foot in India. Their only trading outpost was in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, established in 1620. Their outpost was never too important and was sold to the British in 1845.
Other colonial nations such as Belgium, Italy and Germany did not set foot in India. Spain did not have territorial rights to India due to the Line of Demarcation drawn by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 with the Bull Inter caetera, ceding the eastern hemisphere to Portugal. Japan briefly occupied the Andaman and Nicobar Islands during World War 2.
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